


We Vow To End Their Vicious Reign, And Break Their Twisted Hearts

by iamtheoneinthehole



Category: Rooster Teeth/Achievement Hunter RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - Pirate, mermaid!au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-03-26
Updated: 2014-03-26
Packaged: 2018-01-17 02:24:59
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,987
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1370443
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/iamtheoneinthehole/pseuds/iamtheoneinthehole
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Prompted by 'whatdoyewant'; Could you please please PLEASE write an OT6 Mermaid AU with Geoff, Michael, and Ray as mermaids that can walk on land, and Ryan is the (pirate?)captain of the ship "Achievement" and Gavin and Jack are part of his crew? And the mermaids can sense who they're meant to be with like an internal radar? (You're writing is so spectacular; I love it so much! You can take whatever author's license you want. I would love to see what you do with the idea.) (Pirates trying to kill mermaids for bonus points)</p>
<p>They say mermaid’s full of care,<br/>A maiden of the seas,<br/>But if you cross a mermaid fair,<br/>Your ship will be debris...</p>
            </blockquote>





	We Vow To End Their Vicious Reign, And Break Their Twisted Hearts

**Author's Note:**

> You have no idea how much I LOVED this prompt! I've had such an incredible time writing it, thank you so much 'whatdoyewant'- I hope you like what I've done with it! Enjoy! :)

_They say mermaid’s full of care,_

_A maiden of the seas,_

_But if you cross a mermaid fair,_

_Your ship will be debris,_

_They say a mermaid’s love is true,_

_They say its in her song,_

_But what of fallen pirates who,_

_Have proved that story wrong,_

_They lure them in with songs of love,_

_They never let them go,_

_For men are never then free of,_

_Their scaled and dangerous beau,_

_But we are not the men they claim,_

_And as our ship departs,_

_We vow to end their vicious reign,_

_And break their twisted hearts…_

\----

Captain Ryan allowed his lips to curl a little into a sharp, shark like, smile; the same smile that’d always kept his crew in line and had sent countless enemies half-running off the plank of ship Achievement Hunter rather than face him in any form of combat… because a death by the sea would always be more merciful than whatever Ryan had planned for them. He was a man with no mercy. And true, it was rare that captains were merciful, but the cold, calculated sort of cruelty this one could show was enough to strike fear into the hearts of even the boldest of men. No one betrayed Captain Ryan and no one crossed him… After all, they’d all heard about what’d happened to the last man who’d tried to do _that._..

He’d quickly gained himself a reputation as a ruthless man with a cold heart. That would be the description most men would whisper amongst themselves when his name reached one of the little fishing villages they often plundered, or lucky survivors of one of their rival ships. A ruthless man with a cold heart and fire in his eyes, a destructive untampered sort of fire that destroyed all in its path… You could tell, they often said, just by that fire in his eyes that this was the infamous Captain Edgar’s son.

The same Captain Edgar who’d slain over fifty mermaids during his reign over the oceans, the same Captain Edgar who’d started the campaign to take back their waters from those beasts in the first place after they’d managed to lure Edgar’s other, younger, son to his death on the rocks of some little far away cove. They’d never recovered his body, and no man alive had witnessed his death, but Edgar had known just like Ryan now knew, he’d known it was _them_. And, from that day onwards, he’d sworn an oath to take vengeance on their people and to reclaim the oceans for the men who rightfully deserved it. They would make the mermaids bow to their will, or they’d break them, but one way or another the rights of a captain to the oceans he sailed would be restored to them, by any means necessary.

And now Ryan had inherited that legacy after his father’s ship had been found wrecked on the same coast that his younger brother had vanished from, all those years ago… And once again, Ryan had known it was _them_ who were responsible for it. And so he’d made the same vows his father had before him, dedicating the ship Achievement to hunting the mer people and restoring pirate supremacy to the oceans as he pledged to carry on the legacy Captain Edgar had left behind for him.

And now here he was, finally setting sail for the cove that’d taken both brother and father, the old sea shanty his father had raised him with floating on the breeze down from where shipmate Free was climbing the mast for a better look at the land they were approaching. The man finished with a flourish that almost turned the Captain’s smile into something softer and a little more genuine as he narrowly resisted the urge to roll his eyes at the lad’s antics. Gavin hadn’t been with ship Achievement for long, but he’d already proved himself to be simultaneously the least and most competent pirate Ryan had ever come across.

Because while the man’s skill with a sword left something to be desired, his ability to charm and distract those around him long enough for someone who did happen to possess the former skill to take care of things somewhat balanced that out. And perhaps he’d made a few too many mistakes around the ship for Ryan to really have kept him aboard his ship (since he’d sent others off the plank for far less), but there was something about Gavin’s boyish enthusiasm for what they did that incited something almost _fond_ within him… and there was no denying that such enthusiasm wasn’t contagious either. He’d noticed the way his men had perked up since the British boy had come aboard and Ryan couldn’t help but suspect that the reason none of the rest of his crew had ever confronted him on the fact that he’d allowed the Free boy to stick around was because the man secretly had each and every one of them wrapped around his little finger.

At the very least, he seemed to have managed to capture the attention of his second mate, Jack Pattillo; a man who’d grown up at sea, alongside Ryan, the two of them learning how to fight with wooden swords and talking about the adventures they’d have one day while their fathers had fought the real battles against the mer people. Edgar had always taught Ryan growing up that it was unwise for pirates to trust each other since ruthlessness and betrayal were in their nature, in their very bones, but he’d always excluded the Pattillos from this. Jack’s father had been Edgar’s second mate and Jack, Ryan’s friend and it was the one friendship he’d tried to form that his father had ever approved of. Jack had even known Ryan’s younger brother… before the ocean had taken him. And of course he’d known Edgar so, more so than anyone else on ship Achievement, he understood Ryan’s need to hunt down these monsters and to avenge the men they’d lost.

Of all the men and women he now sailed with, those were the only two Ryan had ever been able to bring himself to trust. Jack because of the long history of companionship and loyalty they bore each other, and because of the similar loyalty that’d existed between their fathers. Gavin because of the fact that he was an open book, all of his emotions clearly displayed in a way that’d probably have gotten him killed by now if it wasn’t for the combined merits of the Brit’s charms and his widely feared and overprotective Captain.

And Ryan found himself reassured by their presence as they ventured into hostile waters, Free’s voice once again echoing down from the mast as he began to sing Edgar’s old shanty, the rest of the crew joining in this time with varying degrees of enthusiasm as they ploughed through the almost disturbingly calm waters, something that couldn’t help but remind Ryan of the calm before a storm, or the dangerous beauty of the creatures they’d pledged themselves to hunt.

\----

Michael grit his teeth, a familiar rage bubbling up inside him as he caught the faint snatches of that _all too fucking familiar_ shanty on the breeze, the one that spoke of the angry, bitter, monsters that liked to sail across and plunder the waves as if the oceans were their own, as if there hadn’t already been others who’d fucking laid claim to it centuries before the first of their stupid goddamn ships had ever set out across the waters.

He’d heard that song only twice before and both times had ended in bloodshed because pirates just couldn’t help but believe that they ruled the fucking world, could they? And so they’d picked a fight with the strange looking ‘humanoid’ (and didn’t the thought of being compared to those… _things_ make Michael feel sick to his fucking stomach) creatures that’d happened to swim a little too close to one of their boats, deciding that they could ‘rule’ over these creatures too, the way they ‘ruled’ over all of the countless fishing villages along the coasts with their constant plundering and unwavering brutality… and hadn’t they gotten the fucking shock of their lives when those humanoid creatures had fought back.

He could still remember the horrified look on that Captain’s face, the day one of the shipmates had attempted to get a little too grabby with Lindsay, one of the younger mermaids in their group, and her father had responded by softly singing the youngest crew mate of that ship over the plank, sweet as a lullaby as they’d all watched the boy (who could really be no older than Ray had been at the time) sink into the waves below…

He remembered being horrified himself by the brutality the mermaid had shown this Captain, even as he was grateful that the pirate who’d been fixating on Lindsay had finally decided to back the fuck off but… his heart had burned in sympathy for the kid, and even for the Captain, because it had to be hard to lose one of your own like that, especially when it was a result of actions that weren’t even your own… he hadn’t dared confront Lindsay’s father on the matter though. He was the leader of their group and they had to defer to his wiser judgement on these matters…

But a part of Michael had known, even then, that their leader had gone too far in his retaliation and he could tell, based on the expressions the others had been wearing as they’d watched the little boy sink further into the ocean’s unforgiving grasp, that he wasn’t alone in that thought… Turns out, they’d been fucking spot on about that.

Because the Captain had returned, just a few months after his son’s death, with a larger ship and an angrier crew who’d taken nothing but a sadistic sort of glee in their attempts to slice and flay alive as many mermaids as their swords could touch…And so they’d taken up the mantle the pirates had laid down and had fought back. With siren songs, with words, with subtly and stealth; in short, everything the pirates were utterly hopeless when it came to overcoming because you couldn’t beat a song to death, nor slice away the words that fell from a mermaid’s lips.

And as time had gone on, and Michael had been forced to grow up in a war torn. and increasingly hostile, environment, the sympathy he’d once had for the Captain had quickly faded, replaced by a burning anger that he’d never quite managed to extinguish as he watched he cared about get repeatedly cut down in the waters around him. He’d ended up losing both of his parents to the feud. Their deaths had, at the very least, been quick. Or at least that was the impression he’d gotten from what Geoff, one of the mermaids his soul was bonded with, had relayed to him later on that day. Michael never could quite be sure though it the man had been lying to him just to spare him any more grief… if he had though, the redhead might even have been grateful to him for it.

After that loss though, Michael had hardened a little to the world around him. It wasn’t as if he wasn’t still young and terrified of the fact that they were fighting in a real war, with real casualties, and seemingly without any hope of winning it… But Ray (his other known bondmate) had been younger and even more scared and Michael and Geoff were determined to stay strong, for his sake.

And as time had continued to pass, and Geoff had become more and more involved with the war efforts on the front line, it’d been left to Michael to make sure he kept a smile on the younger man’s face and a song in his heart that wasn’t one of the siren songs of war (the songs he and Lindsay had secretly started to learn in the hopes of helping the war effort someday, and being ready for it when the time came), but a softer song that was meant for only them and Geoff and the mystery other three that they’d yet to come across (and that Michael had begun to fear they never would). A love song woven into the very fabric of their beings, one that Geoff had taught him when they’d first met and had sung to him countless times to soothe the young redhead into a contented sleep… and now it was Michael’s turn to do the same for Ray as he tried to make his bondmate forget, if only for a few hours, the thudding sounds of canons as they laid siege to their homes and the ever-present fear that Geoff might not come back from the front lines one day.

And sometimes, while they’d waited for Geoff to return, Michael and Lindsay would stay up with Ray and say prayers to the gods of the sea for those they loved to return safe and sound. For Michael and Ray, it’d been Geoff, for Lindsay, her father. Caleb and Kerry had ended up joining them too at some point, praying for their older friends, their families. And they’d sit and wait and hope against hope that they’d all make it back safely, and perhaps even with news that the tides were turning, that they were finally winning the war…

He knew Ray, Kerry and Caleb were optimistic about their chances still, filled with the naivety Lindsay and he had both lost to luxury of having the moment they’d watched their parents give themselves over to the war effort, almost entirely and… while Lindsay’s father still lived, unlike Michael’s own parents… They all knew that the Captain had not forgiven, nor forgotten, what’d transpired between that mermaid and his son. And they both knew it was only a matter of time until the man would have his vengeance…

As it turned out, they’d been right.

Michael had known the moment Geoff had arrived back from the frontlines that night, Ray not hesitating to launch himself at the man the moment he’d seen him… But something in the mermaid’s eyes had made Michael hang back, already suspecting the worst before Geoff had even had the chance to turn to Lindsay and offer his condolences…

They’d all expected her to cry, at least a little, at the news. The sea gods knew, after all, that Michael had all but broken down in Geoff’s arms when he’d heard the news of his own parent’s demise at the hands of those… fucking monsters. But instead she’d schooled her expression to one of a false calm, the pallor of her skin and the slight tremor in her hands giving her away a little as she’d asked Geoff to show her to where her father’s trident had fallen.

And no one could quite believe in when, hours later, she’d swum as close to shore of the cove where the pirates had anchored themselves as she could, catching the Captain alone while his crew were busy getting drunk off the rum they’d brought with them. They’d all waited, silent and a little awed as she’d begun to sing the siren song she and Michael had learned together, her voice rising as a powerful and haunting aria that carried itself along the waves to the lone man who’d been immediately caught up within its thrall…

Moments later, the man had followed his son to his watery grave and, just like that, the war had finally been over…

Or so they’d believed until now. But Michael recognized that song, how could he not when it’d haunted the nightmares of his war-torn upbringing and, even now, occasionally slipped into the relative peace of his subconscious, stirring up old fears and anxieties in whirlwind of emotions he’d much rather have distanced himself from long ago… but fact was, he was just as bad at letting go of the past as those damned fucking pirates had been.

He’d been just about ready to swim up and after the ship, in the hopes of perhaps luring a few of the fucking assholes aboard it overboard, before he’d felt Ray’s hand catch on his arm, the man’s eyes wide and a little bit awed... Which was basically the last fucking expression he’d been expecting from the man. And he’d been just about to question him about that because ‘what the actual fuck Ray’ when he’d suddenly felt that strange sort of _tug_ he’d felt the first time Geoff had sung their bondmate song, or when Ray had first started singing along with Michael when he would sing the song to the younger mermaid and… _oh fuck no. There was no fucking way that their three missing bondmates were on that fucking boat. No fucking way in hell._

So naturally, since life and fate and the sea gods were all bitches that happened to hate Michael, Geoff had swum over to confirm his suspicions only moments later, Ray’s face lighting up with a child like sort of glee that he really thought the man had fucking grown out of by this point and even Geoff looked fucking pleased about this… _fucking pleased_ that their other bondmates were the monsters who’d torn apart their homes, their families, their lives and who, apparently, were more than ready to resume their old ways under this new Captain, whoever the fuck he was.

Michael had been damned near ready to _fucking scream_ when his bondmates had both started suggesting that they should go and meet these men, as if they wouldn’t be fucking flayed alive if they did, as if Geoff didn’t _fucking know_ this already having fought in the last war between their people and the fucking pirate scum… But looking to the man he’d once looked up to as a mentor as much as a bondmate, all he saw as a blissful sort of happiness which, under less serious circumstances, he’d be teasing the man mercilessly for… But that bliss was for _them_ and they _didn’t fucking deserve it_ and Michael _didn’t fucking care_ what the sea gods had decided when they’d decided to join three fucking pirates, of all things, with three of their kind… because the sea gods were _fucking wrong._

...Though, admittedly, the best way to prove that would be to meet scum they’d been paired with face to face, that way Geoff and Ray would be able to see for themselves what Michael could already see clear as day. And then they’d sing those assholes into the sea and fucking move on with their lives. Two bondmates was enough anyway. He already felt fucking complete with Ray and Geoff at his side so... why would he need three fucking pirates to attempt to make him feel more so and, ultimately, miss the mark completely.

And so he’d, reluctantly, agreed to the plan Geoff and Ray had managed to devise while he’d been busy trying to come to terms with the situation, a plan that involved going ashore and disguising themselves as people of the island that the pirate ship seemed to be about to anchor itself to, giving them the chance to meet them and ‘attempt to win them over’ before the big reveal about their true forms (and, Michael couldn’t help but think cynically, the inevitable bloodshed that would follow that big reveal)...

At least it’d be over soon and, with any luck, two utterly decimated ships would be enough to keep other pirates from straying towards their cove in future… Of course, he seriously fucking doubted it but he had to find the silver lining somewhere didn’t he?

\----

The first thing Captain Ryan had noticed when Ship Achievement had finally anchored itself beside the pure white sands of the cove a few hours later was the eerie sort of quiet that hung in the air around him, almost as if even nature itself was mourning the poor lost souls that’d sailed too close to these shores only to meet their watery graves at the hands of the monsters that patrolled the islands shores.

Honestly, if his fathers stories were to be believed… and Ryan had always possessed the unshakable faith, the kind of faith that a child often had in his father’s words, that they were… it was nothing short of a small miracle that they’d even been able to drop their anchor in this cove without having already encountered at least one of the scaled nightmares that hid themselves in the dark, glittering waters below.

He’d chosen not to question it too much though, assuming that the sea gods had simply chosen to favour their quest and were smiling favourably upon the pirates’ attempt to reclaim their legacy of the oceans. It was something he’d proclaimed loudly to his crew moments later, the hearty cheers he was met with in response bringing that wide, shark-like, smile back to his lips as he’d begun to bark out orders for his crewmates to man the rowing boats and set sail for the shores. They’d get a bearing on the cove first, then they’d begin to track these monsters down…

Turning back to face the shore, the second thing Captain Ryan had noticed was the faint outlines of figures he could see peering out from behind some larger rocks towards the back of the cove.

He’d immediately alerted Jack to this with a sharp nudge and a quick but subtle gesture in the direction of the cove, looking to the other man for his opinion before he alerted the rest of the crew the possible threat. The man had gone silent for a moment, brow furrowing a little in concentration as he’d scrutinized the figures, as much as either of them could from this distance anyway, before turning his attention back to his Captain.

“They don’t appear to be carrying weapons, though that doesn’t mean they’re not hostile… at the very least though, they’re on land which means…”

“They’re not mermaids. Okay Pattillo, you and Free go out to meet these… natives I suppose. Try to gauge their motives. They don’t appear to be particularly wealthy and I have no quarrel with men unfortunate enough to happen to live upon an island with shores as treacherous as these… but the others…”

“Might not see it that way.”

“Exactly. These are men who I took aboard for their ruthlessness, not their morality. You and Free are the ones who serve as my moral compass in this… take a row boat now, I’ll keep the rest distracted long enough for you to get them off the beach.”

“Aye-aye Captain.”

“How is it that you always make that sound like sarcasm when you use it?”

“Because it is. Never forget, oh mighty Captain, that I knew you back when you still had pudgy arms and baby fat. Your big scary ‘mad Captain Ryan’ legacy doesn’t work on me.”

Ryan laughed a little at that, careful to keep the sound quiet; inaudible to anyone, save Jack, since he did have a reputation to maintain if he wanted to keep these men successfully and  unquestioningly under his command, “Nor would I want it to. Now take Free and go before the rest of these idiots catch on okay? That’s an order this time Pattillo.”

“Pudgy arms and baby fat.”

“At least I didn’t call my first sword ‘pointy’.”

“Touche Haywood, touche.” And they’d shared a rare grin for a moment before his second mate and moved to half drag a bewildered Brit down from the mast of the ship as Ryan had given another one of those traditional, overused, ‘rousing speeches’ to the remainder of his crew, keeping them distracted just long enough for him to see Jack and Gavin pull the three mysterious figures out of sight.

\----

Ryan had found them both later in a tiny hidden cave, a small fire burning between them as both his second mate and shipmate Free talked companionably with the three figures Ryan had spotted on the beach before, figures he could now see were men with an almost ethereal sort of beauty to them.

The one currently talking to Jack seemed to be the oldest of the three, perhaps even older than Ryan. There were a few scars on his arms that made him wondered if this man was a retired pirate, certainly there was something in his gaze that seemed to imply a sort of age beyond the man’s years even. As if he’d seen things he’d never quite be able to unsee… something Ryan could relate to all too well. What caught his attention the most about this man though was his laugh, loud and melodic, its echo dancing about the cave as something his second mate told him seemed to amuse the man.

Beside them, Gavin seemed to be chattering animatedly with a man who appeared perhaps a year or so his junior in age though, based on the witty rejoinders spilling from the man’s lips in response to some of the things his shipmate was saying, that bore no sort of influence on the man’s intelligence. He had an easy smile and a lighthearted charm to his demeanor and Ryan could easily see why Gavin had ended up becoming so caught up in the stranger.

The last stranger, however, had been the one that’d really made Ryan sit up and take notice.

At first, he’d assumed it was simply because the man was sat by himself instead of conversing with the other man in the cave but, as he’d started to study him a little bit more carefully, he’d noticed the tension in the man’s shoulders and the fire in his eyes as he stared down Ryan that honestly made the Captain’s breath catch in his throat for a long moment before he’d even been able to _think_ about breathing normally again.

Because something about the man’s defiant, fiery sort of anger was _fucking gorgeous_ … He’d very rarely had anyone stare him down like that before and none of the others who’d done so had lived to tell the tale but… with this man, it was somehow different… _captivating_ even.

Eventually he’d been able to snap himself out of whatever hold it appeared the man’s gaze had claimed over him, moving to take a seat between him and Gavin as the shipmate had excitedly begun to introduce Ryan to the rest of the group. As it turned out, the man he’d been talking with was Ray, a man who he’d been right to assume was just the slightest bit younger than Gavin and who’d suddenly gotten a little shy when he’d been introduce to Ryan. The man sat next to Jack had assured him though that this was normal when Ray met new people and that he’d actually been amazed by the fact that he’d opened up so easily to Gavin. It hadn’t surprised Ryan all that much to hear that though given how skilled the Brit had always been in winning people over and earning their trust.

There was a reason, after all, that the man was the only member of ship Achievement’s crew, other than the man that’d been his only childhood friend, that Ryan actually trusted.

The man at Jack’s side had then introduced himself as Geoff and had then proceeded to introduce the ‘antisocial asshole’ to his left as Michael, a name Ryan found strangely suited the man. It had a sort of power behind it, not unlike the man himself from what little he’d managed to gather so far, and the word seemed to roll off his tongue with a strange sort of ease, not all that dissimilar to the way Jack’s had in their younger years, long before he’d even been able to pronounce his own father’s name, or how Gavin’s slipped so easily off the tongue now. And, though he hadn’t tried saying them himself just yet, he gathered Ray and Geoff might have a similar easy ring to them.

After that, Geoff (with the occasional side commentary from Ray which seemed to gradually grow more and more confident as time passed) began to tell the pirates about how the three men were inhabitants of the island they’d anchored themselves to, though Ryan hadn’t missed the scoff the man next to him had let out at that, and had been curious about the boat they’d suddenly seen pulling into their shores. He’d continued to listen attentively to Geoff’s story, silently noting every little scoff or eyeroll that Michael gave that only seemed to grow more and more frequent the longer the man spoke until Ryan was entirely certain that none of what the man was saying was even remotely true...

Which of course begged the question, what was it that these men seemed so desperate to hide from them?

And it wasn’t a question that had an easy answer, not when these men were still complete strangers and Ryan had no real way of knowing their specific tells that would give away the information he needed the way he had with his own men. It was a skill he’d learned years ago when his father had first begun to train him up for captaincy, the man always maintaining that a Captain was only as powerful as whatever power he held over his crew, and that the best way to acquire that power was by stripping a man of their ability to lie to you, ever. Because the moment they even thought about trying, you’d know.

Ryan was used to knowing those around him better than he’d ever known his father or brother (since they’d never been enemies he had to prepare himself for. Blood was blood after all, even in the pirating world) so to have these three enigma suddenly presented to him was more than a little disconcerting.

He’d forced back the feelings of unease though, even as he’d found less and less to trust in the men’s story, since the last thing he needed was an emotional response clouding his observational skills while he desperately tried to get a read on these men… Thankfully, the majority of the men, both his and the enigma, didn’t seem to notice his shift in mood. He could feel Michael’s eyes on him though, burning a hole into the side of his head as he, seemingly, attempted to get a similar read on him to the one he’d been attempting to gain on the redhead earlier… And based on the expression on the man’s face when he’d turned to study the redhead’s reactions to Geoff’s story a little more closely, he was having just about as much luck puzzling him out.

_Good_. If there was one thing Ryan despised, above all else, it was someone else holding an advantage over him that he didn’t have. If he was to be confused by these men then he wanted them to be just as confused when it came to him and his own motives. The last thing he needed, after all, was for him to work so hard to reach this cove, struggling against impossible odds to acquire a capable and willing crew, only to have some mysterious men in a cave completely derail all of his hard work.

Eventually, Michael seemed to grow tired of their silent stare of, his voice finally being heard in the cave for the first time since Ryan had arrived there only to declare that he was going ‘for a walk’, something in his tone making it pretty damn clear to the others that the man fully intended to go for that walk alone.

Ray and Geoff had both frowned a little at this, though they’d waved him off soon enough (not that them asking the man to stay would’ve likely stopped him from storming out of the cave given the almost thunderous expression that’d been on the man’s face moments later as he’d done so). And Ryan had waited a good few moments before following with the excuse of ‘going to check up on the rest of the crew’ that the others seemed to believe easily enough (though Ryan suspected that had more to do with the distraction provided in the form of each other than anything he’d done himself to convince them) and Ryan was able to slip out into the dark cover of night, eyes honing in on the footprints the man had left behind him as he’d seemed to wander towards one of the beaches not too far from the cove where he’d anchored his ship.

\----

Michael could feel the relief rolling off him in waves (and oh god, he’d been spending way too much fucking time with Barb if he’d started to make unintentional puns like that) as he’d sunk his body into the water, his aching legs _finally_ shifting back to their usual tail form and taking the aches and pains with them as he’d allowed the gentle lapping of the waves to soothe him a little.

Of course that did nothing to fix the fucking clusterfuck he and his bondmates seemed to be facing with their bondmate situation here but… it was a nice distraction at least, if only for a few moments as Michael desperately tried to push the three pirates who’d sat with them in that goddamned fucking cave from his mind, especially the Captain who by rights he should’ve wanted to stay as far fucking away from as possible given that it was this guy’s fucking _father_ who’d decimated his home and slaughtered his parents all those years ago…

And yet the fire pumping through his veins when he’d first laid eyes on the man hadn’t been anger… far from it.

Which was actually the other reason he felt relieved to have switched back since doing so also took a certain part of his anatomy out of the question… Which made it easier to deny exactly what it had been that’d really been troubling Michael the most about sharing that cave with those fucking murderous pirate scum because there was _no fucking way_ he’d been close to have a tension fuelled boner for those guys, _no goddamn fucking way..._

He’d been so caught up in his own denial that he’d barely noticed the sounds of rustling nearby… it hadn’t been until he’d heard the sharp intake of breath that he’d turned to actually see Ryan stood on the beach opposite and staring at him with something akin to horror in his eyes, the Captain’s hand already tightly wrapped around his sword, though for whatever reason he seemed to hesitate when it came to actually doing anything with it.

So it’d been Michael who’d, ultimately, taken the initiative for him, reaching out to grasp the sword, paying little heed to the way it sliced at his fingers as he pressed the cold, metallic blade to his throat, eyes slightly goading the man as he darkly murmured, “Do it. Go on, I fucking dare you. Go ahead, no one’s here to stop you. You can be the big fucking hero to your men when you go back and brag about this... and the bigger fucking monster to those of us that lurk in the oceans below. Go on, be daddy’s good little pirate heir and run me through… Don’t tell me that shanty of yours was all talk?”

“Don’t fucking test me Michael.”

“Why not? If you’re going to kill me, testing it won’t fucking change anything. If not, well you’re full of crap and I have nothing to fear do I? Either way, I can’t see the downside of ‘fucking testing’ you a little and if you don’t like that? _‘Pierce my twisted heart’_ and get me to shut the fuck up already.”

He’d been expecting the killing blow or slice long before this point but apparently the asshole in front of him liked to play around with his victims first, give them hope perhaps, or maybe it was the waiting that was meant to be some kind of fucked up torture for him… Well, Michael had never been the kind of man to wait, even for death,“Fucking do it already, you fucking coward! Kill me!”

“...I can’t.” And, just like that, all of Michael’s anger washed straight out of him with the tides because… _what?_

“What do you mean you fucking can’t? Isn’t that what you came here to do? To kill ‘monsters’ like me and avenge your father.”

“Of course it is…”

“Then why can’t you…”

There’d been a long beat of tense silence between them as Michael had trailed off, eyes intensely scrutinizing the man in front of him as he tried to decipher something hidden detail that he’d missed, something that would somehow make it all suddenly make some kind of fucking sense why a man who’d pledged himself to kill their kind was passing up the opportunity to do so when it’d practically been handed to him on a platter, “...I don’t know.”

And the words had been so hesitant, so quiet, so… vulnerable that Michael, against all of his better judgement, had _believed_ him.

\----

Ryan had been so caught up in his own head (and the overpowering sense of shame and guilt he felt over turning his back on his father’s legacy so readily the moment this mermaid had confronted him and _dared_ him to make the killing blow) that he’d barely even registered it at first when the redhead had emerged from the water, only fully realizing the man’s sudden proximity when his head was suddenly pulled, unceremoniously, into the man’s lap. The man’s very _naked_ lap and for a moment he’d gotten a very different impression of what it was the mermaid had wanted… Which was something the redhead clearly picked up on based on the amused smile that’d begun to curl the edges of his lips just before the man had begun to smooth gently through Ryan’s hair, soothing him a little.

And then he’d begun to sing, his voice as smooth as honey and his words seemingly calling out to some part of him that’s suddenly begun to resonate with a strange sort of warmth and Ryan couldn’t help but let his mind wander a line of his father’s old shanty; ‘ _They lure them in with songs of love and never let them go_ ’... and perhaps this _was_ Michael’s bid to lure him in but, right now, Ryan couldn’t really find it within himself to care about that possibility, not when the mermaid’s hands were still gently smoothing through his hair and Michael’s eyes were holding his with that intense, unwavering gaze of his and suddenly he’d gotten the distinct sense that the man whose lap he was resting in finally had him figured out… and his first instinct wasn’t panic like it should’ve been, but a strange sort of satisfaction with that turn of events…

In short, Captain Ryan Haywood of ship Achievement was _fucked_.

\----

He’d eventually returned to his crew that evening with a shaken sort of look lingering behind the usual mask he wore around his crew… but of course, Jack had seen right through that and before the evening was done, Ryan found himself sat between Jack and Gavin and asking them about what they’d heard about mermaids growing up… because he was starting to get the distinct impression that the version of events he’d always received from his father had been a little… lacking to say the least.

Jack had gone first, telling stories that were similar enough to Ryan’s own, though he hadn’t suspected much else from the man given that the two of them had grown up together on the same goddamn ship with the same stories and storytellers that’d convinced them, back then, that all mermaids were pure evil and it was a pirates solemn duty to ensure they were destroyed… But Gavin’s stories had been different.

Apparently, growing up in one of the small fishing villages they’d plundered, Gavin had heard stories instead about mermaids were actually not all that different from those who walked on land except for the fact that they had tails and, unlike humans, they knew instinctively when their soulmates were near and would lure them in with their song… It’d been the last part of his tale that’d, naturally, sent Ryan’s mind reeling as he’d pestered the lad for more information than he probably knew, both his and Jack’s growing increasingly more intrigued and suspicious until Ryan had finally blurted out, “What if _I_ was one of these mermaids’ ‘soulmates’…”

There’d been a long beat of silence after that, both Gavin and Jack’s usually easy expressions turning darker, more troubled, and for a long moment Ryan had been convinced that the pair were about to turn on him for betraying his cause… But then Jack had finally broken the silence with his soft, uneasy, words that how, in that case, Ryan might want to think about getting that mermaid far away from the rest of his crew as soon as fucking possible.

\----

They’d smuggled Geoff, Ray and Michael out of the cave they’d left them in the following night, Ryan sending Gavin and Jack ahead of him with Michael and Geoff (since those two seemed the most likely to pick a fight if they ran into one of his crew whereas he was halfway convinced he could pass Ray off as one of theirs if needs be… and Ryan had to do a few things first, to cover their tracks before he could join them).

Of course, because Ryan’s luck seemed to be fucking terrible these days, they’d ended up getting spotted by one of the more sword happy members of his crew, just as Ryan had begun to sneak Ray out of the cave and towards where the others would be waiting for them… what was worse, it was one of his father’s old crewmates… and he seemed to recognize the man currently stood behind him, Ryan’s arms coming out to block the man’s path to the mermaid as he’d spoken, his tone bold and ringing with the authority of a man who’d had the legendary Captain Edgar Haywood as a father, “What, may I ask, is the problem here exactly?”

“You know damn well what the problem is Haywood, I know your father must’ve beat something into that pretty boy head of yours... Its you and your little faggy mermaid friend here.”

“Is it? And what are you going to do about that?”

“Not even gonna try and defend yourself? You fucking make me sick. Your rotting father would be turning in his watery grave if he fucking saw you right now, you know that?”

“My father wouldn’t be in a fucking watery grave if he’d never managed to piss the mermaids off in the first place.”

“They killed your brother, his son! Does blood mean nothing to you?”

“Blood means everything to me... And he spilled it all trying to chase after creatures none of us could understand… and then he fucking dared to blame them for it when they decided to fight back.”

“They’re fucking monsters.”

“Perhaps… but so are we.” And with that his sword sliced straight through the man’s chest, the blade piercing the man’s heart as Ryan leaned a little closer to murmur a few more words, the last this man would ever hear, “And it’s always fighting those monsters you don’t understand that gets you killed.”

The body had fallen to the sands below with a loud thudding noise moments later, Ryan quickly returning his sword to his belt before turning to check on Ray. He’d been expecting to find revulsion or perhaps just the slightest hint of unease in the man’s gaze, instead he’d found something warm and fond… And then suddenly the mermaid was leaning in to press a soft kiss to Ryan’s cheek along with a murmured ‘thank you’ that Ryan had barely even registered as the cogs in his brain began to whir along with the revelation that this whole ‘soulmates’ thing might just be a little more complicated than he’d initially believed it was… because he could feel that same damn warmth in his chest that he had with Michael and, honestly, he wasn’t entirely sure what he was supposed to make of that.

\----

In the end, it’d been Geoff who’d provided him with his much needed answers, the man clearly more knowledgeable than either of his ‘bondmates’ when it came to this phenomena… though apparently that’d had more to do with Geoff being the oldest and, therefore, the one ‘responsible’ for ensuring things went off between him and his intended ones without a hitch, than a case of Michael or Ray simply having paid less attention to the stories involving bondmates growing up.

The man had described it like this. Since the beginning of time, both human and mermaid were brought into existence with a particular romantic destiny in mind… this destiny could be singular, or involve multiple parties, but what always remained constant was the bond that existed between them. A bond which made those linked by it ‘bondmates’ (or ‘soulmates’ as the humans usually termed it). He explained that the only difference between mermaids and humans in this respect was that humans could rarely sense theirs, if ever. Mermaids, however, could sense theirs from the moment they first laid eyes upon that person, or ears upon their song…

Apparently it’d been his father’s old sea shanty that’d alerted them to the fact that their bondmates were aboard that ship (and hadn’t that just been fucking mortifying to realize… no wonder Michael had been so hostile with him at first) and that’s how they’d known to follow their boat ashore, in order to meet them face to face, as well as get a better sense of just how caught up in the anti-mer propaganda they actually were. Geoff had openly admitted to being pleasantly surprised in Ryan’s case and the (probably former by this point) Captain hadn’t exactly blamed him there...

And then the man had gone more into the ‘song’ element he’d been talking about before, explaining that mermaids, essentially, had two songs. The ‘siren song’, a song predominantly used to lure men and women to their deaths and one that’d been used numerous times, the man had admitted with something akin to a sheepish sort of guilt written across his features, in the initial battles against his father as well as, ultimately, being responsible for the man’s death… as well as his brother’s.

But Ryan had already known this when he’d chosen to smuggle these mermaids away from his crew, had known it when he’d run one of his fathers few surviving crew members through with his blade, had known this… but hadn’t cared or at least… not as much as he’d cared about the concept of these mermaids’ safety.

Geoff had then gone on to explain their ‘second song’, the one that Ryan was almost certain now that he’d heard fall from Michael’s lips before by the sea when he’d carded his hands through Ryan’s hair and soothed away almost an entire lifetime’s worth of hate for his people with the soft, dulcet tones of his love.

He’d explained to them how many of the actual myths and legends had actually been based off that second song since it was pretty easy for onlookers who witnessed one of their own calling out to their human mate, only to have said mate leap into the ocean moments later, chasing their song… well it was pretty easy for those people to misinterpret things, assuming that these people were drowning and suspecting the widespread misuse and true evil of their siren song to behind it when, in reality, that song had always been, first and foremost, a self-defensive strategy… nothing more.

After that Ray had cut in with something about how, due issues of living conditions (as well as certain element of their anatomy), it was obviously more difficult for bondmates that spanned across the human-mermaid divide… and so the sea gods had devised a way to make things easier for them. All mermaids who were bondmates with a human would be able to walk on land after they’d met their intended ones… and apparently the same thing applied to humans whose bonded were mermaids after they’d met each other…

Ryan had a harder time believing that so much as the other stuff they’d said, and it must’ve shown in his expression a little because suddenly Geoff was guiding him towards a nearby coastline and asking him to trust him as he tugged him under the waves…

Despite the strong, almost unnerving so, surge of trust the man seemed to inspire within him, Ryan had still almost expected to drown as Geoff had continued to drag him deeper with him, though not so deep that the man couldn’t pull him out in time if it came to that… But then he’d found himself distracted by something, a weird sort of tingling sensation and then… _holy fuck was that a tail?_ He could hear Geoff’s laughter at his side and he knew full well that the expression on his face right now must’ve been been comedic gold given the shock he could feel pulsing through his veins right now… but he figured he could probably be excused for that because _he had a fucking tail_ …

And just like that, he’d had his proof that everything Geoff and Ray had been telling him about before was true. They were soulmates… or bondmates… whatever, they were something-mates and holy fuck, that was a lot to take in at once really because Michael, Ray _and_ Geoff? He was the son of a fucking asshole mermaid hunter who’d dedicated his life to oppressing and then slaying these creatures, how they hell had he gotten so goddamned lucky?

The only way it could’ve gotten any better was if… he shook that thought from his mind before it had the chance to take route, knowing he should be grateful for what he had and not long for the second mate and the lighthearted shipmate that he didn’t… But then Michael seemed to realize his train of thought, or perhaps it’d been one of the other’s expressions that’d made the redhead speak out, because seconds later he was filling the silence with a, “You do know Geoff and Ray were talking about all three of you when they said those things, right?” And just like that, suddenly the world had swum into focus and Ryan knew he was staring in utter disbelief at the man for a good few minutes, the redhead obviously amused by this given the light smirk that’d crossed his lips moments later.

And then he, Ray and Geoff had begun to sing;

_When the gentle waves wash o’er the shore,_

_Or when tides all turn to raging seas,_

_You’re protected, one that I adore,_

_As needed as a pirates’ sail needs breeze,_

_Bright and shining like the light of dawn,_

_To that radiant glow we must be slaves,_

_So with all my love I must adorn,_

_Till at last we meet our watery graves._

There’d been a long silence after they’d finished singing... And then Gavin had been grinning and hurling himself at Geoff, Jack’s arms finding their way around the two of them moments later as he, Ray and Michael had all ended up bursting into amused laughter at the cuddle pile up that seemed to be forming… before of course they’d joined the huddle themselves. They’d stayed there for a good few minutes before Gavin had started squirming, which of course had set off more amused laughter as they’d finally allowed the man a little breathing space and Michael was grinning widely at him and Jack’s hand had found his and, somehow, everything was _perfect_ …

\----

When people spoke of the myths and legends surrounding Captain Ryan, you’d end up hearing very different stories, depending on who you asked that was…

Perhaps you’d ask the pirates and sailors who weren’t a part of Ryan’s crew but had respected the man enough to know he was a fearsome presence when he sailed the oceans. They’d probably tell you that he met his fate at the hands of some fearsome, terrible creatures and that it was wiser not to ask for specifics since it was likely that no one had lived to tell that tale, or if they had that they’d be far too scarred by what they’d witnessed to recount the events accurately for you.

Perhaps you’d ask those of Ryan’s crew who’d made it back safely and they’d tell you their Captain had died a hero who’d gone out fighting and had taken many a mermaid down with him. They say he could rest peacefully now in his own watery grave, knowing he’d done the seas gods and his father proud.

Or perhaps you’d visit the little town Gavin had grown up in and you’d hear whispers about Captain Ryan and two of his crew who’d fallen in love with three of the mermaids they’d been tasked to hunt. Given a choice between killing or joining them, they’d hurled their bodies to the oceans never to be seen again…

And perhaps if you listened closely enough, you’d hear other stories about how six mermaids has since been seen in the cove where those three men had given themselves to the sea... and that if you were wise, you would keep your distance from them because these mermaids no longer had a use for that second song, because they’d already found each other… But they might just use their first if you got too close…

 


End file.
